1815: Pirates and Privateers

The Battle of New Orleans was fought January 8. Among those fighting for the Americans were, in fact, the Laffite's forces. Laffite and his men did serve with distinction, providing artillery support and manning batteries. They fought with precision of veteran gunners.

In the first British attack, a column pushed forward between the levee and the river so swiftly that the outposts were forced to retreat. Before the batteries could meet the charge, clearing the ditch, the British gained the redoubt, leaping over the parapet and overwhelming by their superior force the small party stationed there. Lafitte no sooner saw the movement of the enemy, than he and his corsairs sprung forward. Laffite cleared the breastwork of the entrenchment, leaped, cutlass in hand, into the midst of the enemy, followed by a score of his men.

The Baratarians left their entrenchments and met the British force with hand to hand combat. The British, pressed by the suddenness of the charge, made with the recklessness of practiced boarders bounding upon the deck of an enemy's vessel, began to give way. One after another, two British officers fell before the cutlass of Laffite.

The battle, itself, was a long and bloody affair. British losses were particularly high. It was America's one decisive battlefield victory during the War of 1812. Of course, it is also noteworthy because, as every student of US History knows, the battle actually was fought after a treaty between the two nations ending the conflict had been signed. Such was life in an era of communication that moved only as fast as a runner, a horse, or a ship under sail.

Not surprisingly, soon after the peace was declared the scheming and intrigues resumed, as did privateering and piracy.

Early in 1815, an American privateer named Rapp was the captain of a ship called the Hotspur. Rapp was operating under the auspices of a privateer commander named Louis Michel Aury. Aury had been an ally of Simon Bolivar, the Liberator, in his wars of independence from Spain. Aury sailed with letters of marque from Bolivar's Republic of Cartagena.

During this time, Rapp and the Hotspur found themselves engaged by two Spanish cruisers off the Cuban coast. It was an uneven battle that saw the grappling hooks of both cruisers attached to the Hotspur, and blood and bodies strewn over three decks in close combat. The Hotspur finally broke loose and escaped. It sailed for Belize to discharge wounded crewmen, one of whom was an American named James Campbell. Campbell spent several months of 1815 recovering from his wounds, after which he decided to try his luck once more at coastal smuggling.

Further west, Don Juan Zambrano continued to lead a colorful and dangerous life. In July of 1815, with his blond hair blowing in the wind, his shirt open at the collar, his sleeves rolled up above the elbows, and a cavalry sword strapped to his waist, Zambrano was arrogantly walking down the street. Lieutenant Jose Yanez, who had lost some money to the subdeacon in a card game a few days previously, passed Zambrano and failed to speak to him. Thereupon the subdeacon reprimanded the lieutenant, and would have laid hands on him but Yanez was too fleet of foot for him. Zambrano soon gave up the chase and went on to his ranch.

Upon his return Zambrano was pleasantly surprised to find Lt. Yanez waiting for him. With but a few words the two officers of His Most Catholic Majesty's army were furiously engaged in a duel. Unfortunately for Zambrano, Yanez, although smaller in stature, was by far the better swordsman.

Yanez attacked Zambrano with impetus. He broke Zambrano's sword at the hilt. He wounded Zambrano on the face and shoulders. No doubt he would have killed Zambrano, but for the timely interruption by troops sent by Governor De Salcedo to stop the duel.

In September 1815, Henry Perry moved a body of men to the Bolivar Peninsula in Texas with two sloops and a schooner. Perry named the point for Simón Bolívar, who commissioned him to attack Spanish commerce on the Gulf as a privateer and direct expeditions against the Spanish in Mexico.

1816: The Filibusters Gather

Aury's service to Cartagena ended in January 1816, when he reached Haiti, after successfully running the Spanish blockade of Cartagena. Aury quarreled with Bolivar and transferred his services to a group in New Orleans who were planning a free-Mexican rebel port on the Texas coast, an invasion of Texas, and attacks on Royalist ports on the Gulf Coast, as part of the Mexican revolt against Spain.

At about this time, on a trip from Louisiana with seventy-seven men and one woman, Perry's schooner broke up on breakers in dense fog just off Bolivar Point. Six days later, Perry found the captain, tied to a spar drifting in Galveston Bay. The men at Bolivar set out to find other survivors. They found eleven, including the lone woman. Due to the loss of men and the schooner, the plan was called off. By February 1816 all had returned home. Perry and some of his men were arrested for violating America's neutrality laws.

Aury left Haiti on June 4 and captured several vessels en route to Belize, where he arrived on July 17. Then he proceeded to Galveston Island. Most of the prize vessels and cargo were lost or damaged in efforts to sail into the harbor. Aury established himself at Galveston in late July 1816. Then, his Haitian sailors mutinied on the night of September 7, wounding Aury. They sailed to Haiti with considerable booty.

An envoy of the Hidalgo revolt proclaimed Galveston a port of the "Mexican Republic," made Aury resident commissioner, and raised the rebel flag on September 13, 1816. Aury was now formally installed. He had a squadron of 12-15 small vessels that are said to have flown a flag consisting of a white field bordered in red, which in the center displayed a blue sword and olive branch surmounted by a green wreath. Aury is also said to have displayed the 1815-1821 Mexican privateer ensign.

The privateers had virtual control of the Gulf and were driving Spanish shipping off the sea. His crews, however, included many that refused to abide by the rules of privateering and easily crossed into indisputable piracy. Their prizes were often Spanish slaver ships. A brisk slave trade with two routes soon developed between Galveston and Louisiana. The water route was the Gulf of Mexico. The land route ran from Point Bolivar, across modern Jefferson County, on to the Sabine River. After the fall of the Hidalgo movement, Aury also turned from privateering, preying on vessels in the Gulf, independent of flag.

Henry Perry, once out of jail, joined him. Perry arrived on Bolivar Point with a force of about one hundred men. Aury's settlement of shacks on Galveston was far from peaceful and Perry refused obedience to Aury.

Yet another disturbing incident for Aury was the November 22 arrival of Francisco Xavier Mina. Mina and three ships joined Aury and Perry at Galveston. Mina established an earthwork fort for his men, among them Aylett Buckner, a veteran of the Gutierrez-Magee Expedition. Mina had fought against Napoleon in the Spanish Peninsular War of 1810, but later turned against the restored King Ferdinand.  In 1815 he made his way to America to continue his revolutionary activities, absolutely intent upon an invasion of Spanish Mexico.

1817: The Swashbucklers of Campeche

Filibusters, freebooters, privateers and adventurers of all stripes made a beeline for Spain's poorly defended buffer in the New World. Many of these expeditions would begin in New Orleans. Some were completely covert. Others had the open support of local politicians and power brokers. It was a colorful community, and a dangerous one.

As noted by Herbert Asbury in The French Quarter: An Informal History of the New Orleans Underworld (1936), "Nowhere else in North America, and for that matter in few European cities, was the so-called Code of Honor regarded with such reverence and the duello so universally practiced as in New Orleans in the hundred years that preceded the Civil War."

Gayarre tells the story of six young Creole men about town, who were idly strolling the deserted streets of New Orleans very late one night after a ball. "Oh, what a beautiful night! What a splendid level ground for a joust! Suppose we pair off, draw our swords, and make this night memorable by a spontaneous display of bravery and skill!" He companions agreed. Swords were crossed in the night. The six fought until two of them lay dying in the street.

Among the most notorious duellists at this period was Bernard Xavier de Mandeville de Marigny, the self same person who had petitioned for the release of Lafitte's pirates before the Battle of New Orleans.

A member of one of Louisiana's oldest and most influential families, Bernard Marigny had, in 1817, just been elected to the Louisiana House of Representatives. He was, according to author Liliane Crété, "a kind of early nineteenth-century playboy." During Bernard's youth, the Duc d'Orleans, later King Louis Philippe, was a houseguest of the Marigny family. It is quite likely that the younger Marigny enjoyed many of the parties thrown by the Creole gentry in honor of the royal visitor. In later years Bernard would spend a fortune on gambling and other attractions of the good life in New Orleans.

Standing just under five feet and eight inches tall and of slight build, he was also a crack pistol shot and a master swordsman. He was a frequent habitue of the various dueling grounds about the city. A son, Gustave Adolphe Marigny, would also become involved in affairs of honor in later years.

The Spanish government, meanwhile, had come up with the unusual plan to try to set a pirate to remove a pirate. With Aury, Perry and Mina on Galveston Island, they invited Jean Laffite to attack Aury's pirates on Galveston. In return, Spain would pardon Laffite and his men of any crimes against the crown. They were planning the capture of Aury's base just as Mina had sailed in.

Aury agreed to convoy the Mina expedition to the Santander River. The fleet left Galveston on April 7, 1817, providing Jean Laffite with the opportunity he needed to undermine the skeleton government left on the island. Mina, Perry and Aury landed at Nuevo Santander and moved inland to Soto la Marina with a force of about 250. Most of the force consisted of Anglo adventurers. They captured the town, but rifts soon developed. Perry left with fifty men and headed north to La Bahía in Texas. Mina continued operations against Spain in the south. Aury sailed back to the upper Texas coast.

Now firmly ensconced in Galveston, Laffite's arrangement with Spain was conveniently ignored. Mexican revolutionaries and Laffite's pirates created an arrangement like Aury's, that gave Laffite a privateering commission. Laffite then organized a government for Galveston on April 8, and a week later his officers swore allegiance to Mexico. Laffite left Galveston on April 18, 1817 to report to his Spanish handlers and on May 8 met with those who directed the plot to capture Aury and his privateers.

While Laffite was in New Orleans, Aury returned to Galveston on May 3, but on May 18 he pushed off to Matagorda Bay. Aury tried to establish himself at Matagorda. His appearance there in June caused much concern among Spanish officials, who faced the prospect of a second pirate colony on their coast. Governor Antonio Martinez wrote to the Military Commander of the province, warning about the "band of pirates" that had 12 ships anchored in the bay and were building barracks ashore.

Just as Aury's band was about to establish a defendable foothold on Matagorda Bay, Governor Martinez' pirate problem mysteriously solved itself, as explained in his letter to the Commandant. "...From the said report you will learn of the destruction of the 13 vessels which were anchored at the port of Matagorda...I am sure they were attacked by some naval squadron or were fighting among themselves. An attack by land was impossible, first, because they were situated between two bodies of water, and second, because the observation party was stationed on the only route leading to that part of the coast." (July 26, 1817)

Did Jean Laffite attack? Did Aury's troops mutiny, as they had in 1816? Aury's own writings make no mention of such. It is known that a tropical storm hit the Texas coast in June of 1817. Perhaps this natural disaster, coupled with the loss of men to the Karankawa and the treacherous waters around Pass Cavallo (Matagorda Bay's only natural entrance) made Aury leave to look for easier pickings. After failing in this effort he went back to Galveston, where he remained until July 21.

Some may wonder why the Spanish Governor in San Antonio de Bexar Antonio Martinez, did not mount an expedition against these interlopers. The truth is there were virtually no Spanish settlements put at risk by them, and the invaders were a better armed fighting force than the local Spanish contingent.

As governor Martinez put in a letter dated June 4, 1817, "I have already pointed out to you the sufferings of the troops of this unfortunate province; and, now, once more, I beg you not to forget me and to send me all I have asked for. In addition, will you be good enough to send me the iron and steel necessary for the repair of the gun carriages upon which the artillery is mounted. They are in such a condition that they are not worth anything to us. We need it, too, so that lances can be made for these troops, for they have none. They would be very helpful to us, for at the present time, the soldiers have neither lances nor swords. It is imperative that the cavalry be supplied with one of these weapons.

"From the enclosed report your Excellency will see the number of troops in the garrison and in the different points that are occupied. Therefore, your Excellency, if you feel that any band of revolutionists are planning to attack this place, you will feel impelled, I hope, to send me some reinforcements. In addition
to the fact that the number in this place is small, the soldiers are poorly armed and without the means of repairing their weapons due to the lack of iron and steel, as I have already pointed out to you. Although you were good enough to send a hundred guns for the troops of this province, they will be of no service whatever. In addition to the fact that they are miserably poor guns they have been already used as long as they were of any account. It is evident that they were discarded by other troops."

In June Perry's force of 50 men had followed the Gulf Coast north and reached the gates of La Bahía, demanding the fort's surrender. Perry intended to later link with Mina and Aury from the south. The commander at La Bahía, however, got word to the Governor. Perry's men attacked and appeared on the verge of taking the garrison when reinforcements in the form of a Spanish cavalry unit arrived and caught Perry between them and the fort. 

Perry was able to get his men to high ground and establish a defensive position. Governor Martinez arrived with the remainder of his troops. General Arredondo joined them. He surrounded the rebels and offered a truce. He told them if they would lay down their arms, they would not be killed. Those that did not would be put to the sword. Perry's answer was, "... they would die rather than surrender." The Mexicans attacked. After fierce fighting, in which the rebels almost broke through twice, the battle was over.

As Governor Martinez noted, "They were attacked with great fury and driven to a hill near a waterfall, where they fell victims to our arms. Twenty-six men lay dead on the battlefield and we captured fourteen prisoners. Twelve of them were wounded, some of them with three or four balls. Among those killed were Colonel Perry and Major Gordon. The first named fell as soon as he was wounded. He killed himself with his own pistol. The second while trying to escape on horseback, was killed by a saber cut at the hands of Alférez Fernando Rodríguez."

It should be noted that these filibustering expeditions were not Governor Martinez' only threat to contend with. In a letter this same month to the viceroy, the governor made one of his frequent requests for weapons, horses and additional troops, noting, "I need also to catch up with, attack, and expel certain bands of robbers. If I had a few effective troops, I am sure that they would not be able to pass into the interior and I would, at the same time, be able to punish the Indians who are so daring at this time."

Aury returned from Matagorda during the month, but the Laffites had caused so many of his men to desert that Aury left on July 21. Aury resigned his commission to rule Galveston Island on July 31, 1817.

To the south, Mina hoped to eventually link up with southern Mexican revolutionaries, but was engaged by General Arredondo and routed. Mina escaped to join the Mexican rebels further south, but in fall 1817 was captured and executed by firing squad.

Laffite, who spoke four languages-French, Spanish, Italian, and English, remained the master of Galveston and made it a center for smuggling and privateering, calling his colony, Campeche. He also set up bases on St. Joseph and Matagorda islands and maintained a watering spot near Port Isabel on South Padre Island. Some believe Lafitte and his men had a rendezvous off Live Oak Point.

As with Aury, one of his more lucrative fields was in slave running. Laffite's ships sailed along the coast of Cuba in search of Spanish merchantmen and slavers. Some of Aury's captains continued to sell slave cargoes at Galveston. At the suggestion of Jim Campbell, who now worked for Laffite, the pirate built two slave barracks in the lawless Neutral Strip, one on Contraband Bayou and another at Ballew's Ferry, ten miles north of Orange, Texas, on the Sabine River. That site was occupied by one of Laffite's pirates, Richard Ballew, who obtained a one-league land grant from the Mexican government and operated a Sabine River ferry crossing.

Among his slave runners were the Bowie brothers, John, Rezin and James, young adventurers and mercenaries. An intemperate adventurer, Jim Bowie became involved in duels and fights in Louisiana and Texas. He made a small fortune as Laffite's middleman.

The writer Lyle Saxon described the village. "More buccaneers arrived, bringing their women with them; an ever-increasing number of traders came to the settlement; and there was a constant infusion of men of all nations -- gamblers, thieves, murderers and other criminals who joined Laffite's colony in order to escape punishment for crimes committed within the borders of the United States. "Doubloons,' says one writer, ‘were as plentiful as biscuits.'"

An early Texas settler, John Iiams, saw Laffite once on Galveston Island. In later years (1890s) Iiams recalled Laffite as a tall, portly man of commanding presence, with dark hair; blue eyes, and a large forehead. Iiams also observed, "The pirates under him were from all nations, many Irish. They were a hard looking set and wore swords and cutlasses. They feared Laffite who would, on the instant, cut down with his sword any man for disobedience."

Although the population numbered only about 100 persons in June 1817, it increased to 800 or more by year's end. The town had a mixed population of whites and mulattos and was a community of many nationalities and languages. Laffite's commune had only two wives living there, but an assortment of mistresses. Jim Campbell's wife Mary always referred to Laffite as "the old man," although he was only nine years older than her husband. She described Laffite as being six feet tall, of dark complexion, handsome, black hair with sideburns and hazel eyes. The only time she ever saw him wear a gun was when Lafitte expected an attack from a rebellious officer, John Marotte. Mary also noted that, "they were, as a general thing, friendly toward each other, bickerings and hard feelings among the families being of rare occurrence... and society at Galveston Island, whatever may be said of its morals, began to have the elements of permanency..."

1818: Challenged to a Duel

About this time, Jim Campbell returned to Galveston with a new, speedy privateer, the topsail schooner Hotspur. His crew included Benjamin Dollivar. As soon as he was provisioned, Campbell began the first of his many voyages off the coast of Tampico and Vera Cruz.

 In late 1818, the Campeche pirates experienced a major hurricane that further decimated their meager resources. After the storm, Laffite's personal fief had suffered considerable damage. Hundreds of men were killed. The fleet was sunk. His buildings were leveled.  Worst of all, the booty was mostly washed back out to the sea that had first given it up. 

After the loss of so many ships, Laffite sent Campbell back to sea as second officer aboard a privateer owned and captained by John Marotte. Laffite distrusted Marotte and needed Campbell to keep tabs on the captain's activities. The privateers soon captured three prizes while patrolling off Mantanzas, Cuba. The first was a slave ship. The other two were loaded with dry goods, silver plate, coins, and merchandise equal to $200,000 in value. Upon reaching Galveston, Marotte unloaded the slaves and some merchandise, but he claimed the cargo of silver, coins, and other valuables had been lost overboard.

Campbell informed Laffite those items were hidden in secret compartments on Marotte's schooner. When Laffite accused Marotte of making a false report, the latter challenged Laffite to a duel. As each prepared to pull the trigger, however, Marotte relented and confessed to his trickery.

1819: Pressures from America and Spain

Charles W. Hayes, in his 1879 work now published as Galveston: History of the Island and the City noted, "In the early part of 1819, the population was between one thousand five hundred and two thousand permanent and transient inhabitants. Times were prosperous and money in profusion. When the privateers came in from a successful cruise, the town was agog with excitement and mirth, and jollity held high carnival, until orders were issued from Lafitte to instantly prepare for sea.

"During one of the seasons of relaxation, two officers had an altercation over a game of billiards. Words ran high, and finally blows were struck, when in strode Lafitte, tore them apart, and demanded if they were gentlemen; if so, not to fight like brutes, but as men, if they must fight. The challenge was given, seconds chosen, weapons selected, pistols, and in less than an hour both were dead from the effects of a bullet through the heart."

This was the year the U. S. Revenue Service cutters Louisiana and Alabama battled and captured the pirate ship Bravo, north of the Tortugas as it was making off with two prizes. After boarding one of the prizes, the Alabama reported: "She was laden with flour and when she was taken had on a number of passengers, both ladies and gentlemen, who were treated by the pirates in the most shameful manner. They were robbed of everything, even to the clothes on their backs, and when the ladies begged for something to cover them, the pirates drew their swords on them, using the most brutal language" The Bravo's captain, Jean Defarges, was a lieutenant of Jean Laffite. Defarges was later hanged from the yardarm of the Louisiana.

Officials in New Orleans were now adamant about breaking the hold of the pirates in the Gulf. John Monroe Dick enjoyed a distinguished career practicing law in New Orleans. He served as U. S. District Attorney in New Orleans from 1815 until 1820. In 1819, he obtained convictions for two of Jean Lafitte's lieutenants and a number of their men. He even went so far as to accuse their defense counsel of "being seduced out of the path of honor and duty by the bloodstained gold of pirates." The two attorneys ended up fighting a duel. Both were wounded.

Spanish rule in Texas was rapidly unraveling. The Adams-Onís (or Florida) Treaty, signed on February 22, 1819, by John Quincy Adams for the United States and by Louis de Onís for Spain, renounced the United States claim to Texas and defined the boundary as the Sabine River. This eliminated the need for the "Neutral Ground" and the lawless elements there began to feel the pressure of American law.

When the United States conceded Texas to Spain, it provoked strong feelings, which led to the last great filibustering expedition to Spanish Texas. James Long raised arms and followers with the objective to establish a Republic of Texas. A force of almost 300 occupied Nacogdoches. Then troops were spread with outposts from there to the coast. A government was established on 23 Jun 1819 with Long as President and Commander of the Army.

He sent emissaries to attempt to enlist the support of Laffite and establish Campeche as a port of entry for the new Republic of Texas. Laffite responded and Long then outlined his invasion plan. Lafitte cooperated half-heartedly, but his principal interest lay in the privateering business.

While preparing to meet Laffite personally, Long learned that Royalist forces under Col. Perez were marching to Nacogdoches. He sent his family across the Sabine and tried to avoid a confrontation. Perez arrived at Nacogdoches and, in stepwise fashion, destroyed outposts established by the Long group on the Brazos and Trinity Rivers with survivors from each outpost fleeing to the next. The remnants dispersed across the Sabine River, with some going down the Trinity to Bolivar Point where Col. Long and others met the few survivors. Perez proceeded to destroy every trace of settlement he could find, Long related or not. According to his report "I burned 30 habitations.... I left nothing which might possibly serve in [the] future."

Lafitte was feeling the pressure, too. Even his men were now of a different cut. Too many were simply fugitives-from-the-law in Mexico and, especially, the United States. Not of the sea-worthy kind he was used to, these were mere opportunists, who felt no loyalty to Campeche. He had trouble controlling them and had to endure constant interference from Mexican and U.S. officials pursuing their trails. Campeche was always under scrutiny.

In September of 1819, the United States Navy captured eighteen of his cut-throats" looting a Spanish ship. They were tried, convicted, and publicly hanged in New Orleans.

The same month, James Long established new headquarters at Fort Las Casas at Bolivar Point.

For a long time, Laffite had refused to commission George Brown. After much argument on Brown's part, Laffite relented. Brown's first act was the theft of several slaves from a plantation near Lake Charles, Louisiana. This alerted the United States revenue cutter Lynx. In October 1819, Brown attempted to capture an unarmed American merchantman just offshore from the mouth of the Sabine River. The Lynx, witnessing the affair, immediately engaged Brown. He ran his vessel aground. Brown and four of his men escaped, returning overland to Galveston. Laffite, fearing reprisal from the United States as a result of the attack, ordered that Brown be hanged. The remainder of Brown's crew was turned over to the captain of the Lynx.

Far from Texas, there was another event in 1819 that would help develop a phenomenon, which would reach well into Texas and the southern United States. This event was the publication of the novel, Ivanhoe, by the Scottish novelist Sir Walter Scott. This novel, and others by Scott, became instantly popular among the plantation classes. They sparked a grand, if often misapplied, Romantic perception of gallant knights in shining armor. Scott's chivalric ideal, translated into the Anglo-American South would reinforce already held concepts of honor, including the ritual of the duel, and spark attempts to recreate that chivalric ideal. For instance, equestrian tournaments were organized in antebellum Charlottesville, Virginia, and would extend as late as 1863. The city was a Confederate hospital town, and that particular tournament featured one-armed knights who held the reins in their teeth.

1820: Mutiny on the Hotspur

In 1820, Campeche was still a profitable enterprise. John Bowie admitted that he and his brothers, James and Rezin, had realized a $65,000 profit from the sale of 1,500 illegal Africans purchased from Laffite at Galveston between 1818 and 1820, and resold principally in Louisiana. For years, Texans thought that 90 Africans adopted into the Comanche tribe were escaped American slaves, but instead, they were African slaves captured from the Bowie brothers while the latter were en route overland from Galveston Island to the Sabine River.

Meanwhile, a young Charles Cronea and fourteen other Frenchmen, including an officer named Gustave Duval, had deserted a warship of the French Navy and signed aboard a ship that was recruiting crews for Laffite's privateers. Each of the Frenchmen volunteered for privateering duties. In April 1820, the fifteen Frenchmen rendezvoused with the Hotspur at Padre Island. At the time, Hotspur Capt. James Campbell had only forty crewmen aboard, only half enough man his guns properly. Campbell made Duval the first mate on the Hotspur, a decision Campbell would regret for the rest of his life. Cronea would remain at sea aboard the Hotspur for the next eight months.

The pressure back at Campeche was mounting. Lafitte continued to harass Spanish ships for Mexico, insisting that he was and had always been a privateer making a living off the liberties allowed in a letter of marque bestowed by a patron country. Now, however, President James Madison issued an all-out war on piracy. In 1820, the capture of an American vessel in Matagorda Bay, coupled with the complaints of the Spanish minister in Washington, sealed Laffite's fate.

During the last 10-months privateering voyage of the Hotspur, the tales of Campbell's sea fights with the Spanish galleons were recounted the full length and breadth of the Gulf of Mexico. Once more booty piled up in Laffite's warehouses on Galveston Island. The memoirs of Charles Cronea, the cabin boy on the Hotspur, are perhaps the best source of Capt. Campbell's exploits. "Sometimes a Spaniard showed fight," Cronea once recalled, "and our gunners poured round shot arter round shot aboard till a white flag went up. Man, you shoulda heered them divils squeal fer us to halt the firing! Lotsa folks figgered we used to cut throats and make the captive Spaniards walk the plank, but that'sa d--n lie! I never seed (sic) a single man murdered while I was with Campbell." At least that's how one later journalist rendered Cronea's remarks.

In the late fall of 1820, Gustave Duval entered into a conspiracy with Tomas Cox, James Clark, and all the Frenchmen except Charles Cronea. Their intent was to mutiny, kill the crew, and divide the spoils. It was set to take place while the conspirators were on watch and Captain Campbell and the remainder of the crew was below deck. The conspirators, however, began drinking rum and when Campbell came up on deck, the only one who was sober enough to do so attacked him with a knife. Campbell quickly returned below deck and armed his crew. Eventually all of the conspirators were killed, but not before two of the loyal crewmen were killed and others wounded.

Shortly thereafter, in November 1820, the Hotspur ran aground and sank at Grand Chenier, in the Mermentau River of Louisiana. Cronea, his pockets bulging with doubloons, deserted the wreck. Although Campbell was able to salvage a part of the booty, most of it was lost with the ship. Upon Campbell's return to Galveston Island, Laffite gave him command of another privateer.

The days of the Campeche colony were numbered, however. In the latter part of the year, the USS Enterprise docked in Campeche Bay. Laffite sent Campbell offshore to investigate. On board was a designated naval diplomat, Lieutenant Larry Kearney, who, speaking for President Madison, ordered Laffite to abandon Galveston Island. Kearney went ashore, wined and dined with Jean Lafitte, and after Kearney presented President Monroe's proclamation to Lafitte, the latter agreed to the burn the town and abandon it.

Laffite stalled...for months. Campbell never put to sea again as a pirate.

1821: Exit Laffite, Exit Long

Long had returned to New Orleans to enlist more support. The group along with Mrs. Long and a servant sailed with four vessels for Bolivar Point on the Bolivar Peninsula opposite Galveston Island. The plan was for one arm to sail to Tampico and join Republicans there, then move up the coast to link with Long's forces at La Bahía. Mrs. Long and a small party were left on Bolivar. Long and a force of 52 sailed to Matagorda Bay, landed at the mouth of the Colorado River 15 miles above the mouth at Mesquite Landing in the fall of 1821.

His force captured La Bahía and during that time learned that Mexico had declared independence from Spain under Emperor Iturbide. At La Bahía, superior royalist forces under Col. Perez from San Antonio used deception that they were sympathizers with the Republican forces of Mexico and captured him and his men. After being marched to San Antonio as prisoners, they were transferred to Laredo and then Monterrey and then escorted to Mexico City.

Things had become serious as far as the American powers were concerned. By the second decade of the 19th Century, pirates increasingly infested the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico, and by the early 1820's nearly 3,000 attacks had been made on merchant ships. Financial loss was great; murder and torture were common. 

Another visit by Kearney, accompanied this time by a war fleet in May of 1821, produced a single command: Get off the island now or be blown to bits. This time, the island's chief graciously consented. Before leaving, he held a huge party for his pirates with wine and whiskey and burned his settlement. It is believed that he had buried treasure on the Island, but it has never been found. After dining with Mrs. Jane Long aboard his flagship Pride, Laffite sailed away into historical obscurity.

"That night," writes Robert Tallant, "Laffite set fire to Campeche. Men aboard the USS Enterprise saw it burst into flames...When they went to shore at dawn they found only ashes and rubble. The ships of Laffite were gone..." Laffite, at this point, leaves our story and sails away into oblivion. Where he traveled, where he wound up, where or when he died, is mystery. There are, of course, many conjectures.

His men were hardly the only privateers roaming the Gulf of Mexico at this time. William Cochrane was master of a Mexican privateer in 1821, and would remain in Mexico's naval service after independence from Spain.

In Mexico City Long and his men were honored by some as patriots, but Long died in Mexico City when he was shot and killed by a Mexican soldier under mysterious circumstances.